Table 1.
Strategies to Build Mental Health Equity After COVID-19
| Proposal | Administration |
|---|---|
| Priority goal 1: ensure access to mental health care for all | |
| Nationwide expansion of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics | Federal government |
| Enhanced enforcement authority to financially sanction payers and providers not adhering to federal parity requirements | Federal and state governments |
| Increased Medicaid reimbursement rates for mental health care, with designated allocations for mental health resources in Medicaid enhancements | Federal and state governments |
| Integrate mental health services across settings: primary care, schools, correctional facilities, and workplaces | State and local governments |
| Eliminate cost-sharing requirements for mental health and substance use disorder services | Federal government |
| Priority goal 2: support the mental health of young people | |
| Universal mental health school screening from kindergarten through 12th grade | State governments |
| Mental health counseling available in every school | State and local governments |
| Social-emotional learning curriculum in every school implemented to SAMHSA standards | State and local governments |
| Healing-informed trauma training for teachers | State and local governments; professional organizations |
| Expansion of Youth and Teen Mental Health First Aid | Federal and state governments |
| Improve school climate and culture through additional financing for equity-building strategies | Federal and state governments |
| Change regulations to authorize use of and reimbursement for mobile apps and other tech tools to engage youth and caregivers in therapy (e.g., text therapy) | State governments |
| Priority goal 3: eliminate inequities in mental health care access and outcomes | |
| Support SAMHSA, HRSA, and DOL grants to build out the mental health workforce in underserved and understaffed settings | Federal government |
| Establish a Communities of Color Peer Workforce Initiative to develop a community-based mental health workforce in high-need areas | Federal government |
| Establish a HRSA funding program for fast-tracked cultural competency training for mental health providers as an immediate response to COVID-19 | Federal government |
| Support tuition remission to incentivize young people of color to enter the mental health professions | Federal government |
| Institute a scoring system for SAMHSA and HRSA grants that prioritizes community-based programs in communities of color | Federal government |
| Require federal SAMHSA and HRSA grantees to engage task-sharing as part of program development | Federal government |
| Incentivize the philanthropic sector to partner with government to fund mental health interventions with high upstart costs | Federal, state, and local governments |
| Prioritize funding mental health crisis response systems that do not rely on justice system actors | Federal government |
Source: authors’ analysis